Bonnet Removal
Discussion
It's obviously easier if you have someone to help but I find if I'm on my own I tie the bonnet to the ceiling of my garage (also handy for keeping the bonnet out of the way while working in there) then undo the 4 little socket cap bolts and swing it away.
Things to remember if you haven't removed it before,
1. Mark around the edge of the hinge plate with a marker pen or something to give yourself a good starting point for adjustment on refitting
2. Go very easy with the bolts run them back and forward a couple of times. I didn't and paid the price, they snap without much warning, I now have an unsatisfactory drill through bolt arrangement.
Things to remember if you haven't removed it before,
1. Mark around the edge of the hinge plate with a marker pen or something to give yourself a good starting point for adjustment on refitting
2. Go very easy with the bolts run them back and forward a couple of times. I didn't and paid the price, they snap without much warning, I now have an unsatisfactory drill through bolt arrangement.
Jonny cobra said:
I have been told to drill the holes as you have and reglass the studs in position . Hoping its going to work. Maybe epoxy isn't strong enough . Im going to chop the glass into small pieces and bond them both ..
JC..
I used the stuff with the matting already mixed in the tin . God knows how to fix it now !JC..
I've seen many of these failed both failed from new and repairs that have failed.
You need to get some real strength back into this and just bonding something in does not work.
I bond a steel tube in with studding welded in the ends but you can't fit it in one piece due to the curve of the bonnet. I fit the tube in two halved with a sleeve joining them in the middle.
Cut an inspection hole (50x170mm) in the middle of the black moulding with the hinges in. Make the long edge against the wrap around of the bonnet moulding (beside the line of rivets).
Buy from B&Q a length of steel tube that just accepts a piece of M8 studding. Buy another length that the first tube just fits inside. Buy some M8 studding.
Cut 2 bits of studding about 90mm long, cut 2 lengths of the first tube making their combined length about 30mm less than the width across the hinge positions. Drill a hole through each tube near the end. Weld the studding into the end of each tube by 'puddle' welding through the drilled holes. It's worth making quite a weld mess around the tube ends to give a nice key for subsequent bonding.
You can now fit a nut to each stud and tighten it down.
Cut a section of the larger tube and again drill holes for welding.
You can now post the assembly into the inspection hole and out of the torn and tatty opening where the broken hinge was. Do this in both directions. Pull the ends back and insert them into the sleeve. Large washers and nuts on the stud will set the right length and the large washer will allow you to position the stud roughly where the hinge was originally.
Now you just need to bond it into position but this is not easy because access is limited and getting the goo to stay in place is a challenge even with the glass loaded paste. I use a self mixing polyester resin used for fixing bolts into walls but you would need to buy the special gun for the cartridges.
An alternative would be to use builders foam and fill the cavity and let it cure. Then with the bonnet up on edge dig out as much of the foam as necessary and pack the space with the glass filled epoxy. When it has set you can weld the sleeve in place.
You’ll have to go some to break that out again.
Steve
You need to get some real strength back into this and just bonding something in does not work.
I bond a steel tube in with studding welded in the ends but you can't fit it in one piece due to the curve of the bonnet. I fit the tube in two halved with a sleeve joining them in the middle.
Cut an inspection hole (50x170mm) in the middle of the black moulding with the hinges in. Make the long edge against the wrap around of the bonnet moulding (beside the line of rivets).
Buy from B&Q a length of steel tube that just accepts a piece of M8 studding. Buy another length that the first tube just fits inside. Buy some M8 studding.
Cut 2 bits of studding about 90mm long, cut 2 lengths of the first tube making their combined length about 30mm less than the width across the hinge positions. Drill a hole through each tube near the end. Weld the studding into the end of each tube by 'puddle' welding through the drilled holes. It's worth making quite a weld mess around the tube ends to give a nice key for subsequent bonding.
You can now fit a nut to each stud and tighten it down.
Cut a section of the larger tube and again drill holes for welding.
You can now post the assembly into the inspection hole and out of the torn and tatty opening where the broken hinge was. Do this in both directions. Pull the ends back and insert them into the sleeve. Large washers and nuts on the stud will set the right length and the large washer will allow you to position the stud roughly where the hinge was originally.
Now you just need to bond it into position but this is not easy because access is limited and getting the goo to stay in place is a challenge even with the glass loaded paste. I use a self mixing polyester resin used for fixing bolts into walls but you would need to buy the special gun for the cartridges.
An alternative would be to use builders foam and fill the cavity and let it cure. Then with the bonnet up on edge dig out as much of the foam as necessary and pack the space with the glass filled epoxy. When it has set you can weld the sleeve in place.
You’ll have to go some to break that out again.
Steve
fatboychim said:
It's obviously easier if you have someone to help but I find if I'm on my own I tie the bonnet to the ceiling of my garage (also handy for keeping the bonnet out of the way while working in there) then undo the 4 little socket cap bolts and swing it away.
Things to remember if you haven't removed it before,
1. Mark around the edge of the hinge plate with a marker pen or something to give yourself a good starting point for adjustment on refitting
2. Go very easy with the bolts run them back and forward a couple of times. I didn't and paid the price, they snap without much warning, I now have an unsatisfactory drill through bolt arrangement.
I fitted the Steve Heath ones last year as one of the bolt holes was getting worn on the originals so it was wobbling and the front of the bonnet was flapping a little at speed.Things to remember if you haven't removed it before,
1. Mark around the edge of the hinge plate with a marker pen or something to give yourself a good starting point for adjustment on refitting
2. Go very easy with the bolts run them back and forward a couple of times. I didn't and paid the price, they snap without much warning, I now have an unsatisfactory drill through bolt arrangement.
As above I did this on my own by roping through the bonnet vents and up and over the garage roof joists then lifting and tying off on each side a bit at a time e.g. lift left side a bit and tie off, lift ride side to level and tie off, repeat.
A few things to be careful of.
1) The bonnet is very heavy so make sure ropes are strong enough and are well secured. If anything slips you will not
be able to catch it or hang on to it your self.
2) Once the hinges are unhooked, regardless of how well roped off you have it, the bonnet will take on a life of its own and start to swing and twist around. Be ready for this. Its pretty well unavoidable as you need the bonnet open to get to the old hinges/bolts and that means the back is much higher than the front.
3) Lay protection over rest of car as best you can e.g. wings, windscreen. I used some old towels. This will avoid any damage from 2)
NI just chose to Sikoflex a new hinge box on mine
Probably not as strong as the fix described above but a pretty simple job, although mine had started to separate from the bonnet anyway.
You can get them here for not too many beer tokens
http://www.b-link.co.uk/tet/tvr-chimaera.php[url]
Probably not as strong as the fix described above but a pretty simple job, although mine had started to separate from the bonnet anyway.
You can get them here for not too many beer tokens
http://www.b-link.co.uk/tet/tvr-chimaera.php[url]
fatboychim said:
NI just chose to Sikoflex a new hinge box on mine
Probably not as strong as the fix described above but a pretty simple job, although mine had started to separate from the bonnet anyway.
You can get them here for not too many beer tokens
http://www.b-link.co.uk/tet/tvr-chimaera.php[url]
I have only been able to do it this way on one car where that section had already come adrift and was only held in place by the rivets. I looked at trying to remove that section on a sound bonnet but decided breaking it out risked damaging the rest of the bonnet.Probably not as strong as the fix described above but a pretty simple job, although mine had started to separate from the bonnet anyway.
You can get them here for not too many beer tokens
http://www.b-link.co.uk/tet/tvr-chimaera.php[url]
I have some pictures I took with my phone of the finished hinge but they are not great.
Richard may be along later with some he took at an earlier stage.
Steve
Ok try this
http://www.b-link.co.uk/tet/tvr-chimaera.php
Do heed steves advice, as I said mine was coming adrift already I just knifed the rest off.
Steve, is that an XR4i in the background?
http://www.b-link.co.uk/tet/tvr-chimaera.php
Do heed steves advice, as I said mine was coming adrift already I just knifed the rest off.
Steve, is that an XR4i in the background?
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